Derby Premium--a light concealed under a bushel?

[phdezra]

@phdezra , I believe Derby Professional are just the single-edged version of Derby Extra. They’re for barber razors - usually an item used by professionals even though they’re popular amongst shave nerds, too.

Looking at the Amazon listing for the Derby Premiums, it looks like they are made from Swedish steel, but not in Sweden. All varieties of Derby are made in Turkey.

I haven't tried other grades of Derby, just these Premiums (which I bought August 2019). Yesterday's shave, with a new Futur also used a new Derby blade. I'd call it closer by a smidgen than the Fatboy shave I started this thread with, but with more alum block and AS feedback.

I use Derby Extra for a variety of reasons (forgiving and not as sharp for a beginner). They are made in Turkey; see photo.

I’m very curious to try Derby Premium (which comes from factory as Single Edge OR Double Edge). This is the one of Swedish steel, regardless of country mfr. Stay tuned!

 

[Aaron H]

A few months back, before all this Chinese blade stuff, I loaded a Derby Premium into a Fatboy and experienced a really good, effortless shave. And I remarked I would have to revisit the Derby Premium and give it an objective evaluation.

Today, I loaded a new Derby Premium into the Fatboy and dialed it up to 9. Soap was RazoRock "What the Puck" Gold Label.
View attachment 1771753
Prep was a shower, followed by rubbing in hair conditioner and leaving it on while I build a lather. Conditioner is slick in its own right, so I leave it on and brush the first application of soap on to it.
View attachment 1771767
My first pass going N-S and I realized I wasn't "letting the weight of the razor do the work". I was applying pressure...but I wasn't suffering any consequences for doing it. So I kept doing it for E-W, S-N, and the cleanup BBS "search and destroy" ATG.

And BBS is what I got. Neck and face, with just a slight hint of against the grain resistance around the Adam's Apple. But here's the thing. No weepers. And essentially no alum block feedback. I've experienced more feedback from witch hazel on a bad technique shave than I did from alum on this shave. The witch hazel felt like nothing. The Skin Bracer splash was the most uneventful application I probably ever had for a shave this close.

Going to have to look into this further.

Thanks, this is inspiring and I am going to load up a Derby Premium in my Slim for this weekend's shave.

I have only used my Slim three times as none of my favourite blades (Nacet, Wizamet and Big Ben) work in the Slim. (no feedback and less than a DFS shave each time with weepers).

 

[ShavingPrimate]

I started out the first week of this new year using a Derby Premium. After the first two excellent shaves, I decided to do a comparison with the Derby Extra. I will be using both of these blades interchangeably over the next two weeks.

I have now shaved yesterday and today with the Extra. I couldn't discern any difference. Both were close and smooth shaves. Perfect in every aspect.

 

[Lane101]

@phdezra , I believe Derby Professional are just the single-edged version of Derby Extra. They’re for barber razors - usually an item used by professionals even though they’re popular amongst shave nerds, too.

Actually Amusebat considers all of its DE blades as Derby Professional per their recent English version catalogs with both SE and DE blades primarily marketed to barbers. They are more focused on marketing their shaving cartridge systems to end consumers given the higher margins. All the Derby DE blades are made in Turkey, both Extra and Premium.

 

[thombrogan]

Thanks, @Lane101 !

I thought all the Derby products were made in Turkey and just that the single edged blades in a green box were called “Professional” and the double edged blades in the green and blue boxes were called “Extra” while both the single and double edged blades in black boxes were called “Premium.” Beyond using one Derby Extra, my thoughts were influenced by staring at pictures of the blades and their packaging and talking myself out of buying them.

 

[cranewarrior]

Are the blue Derby extras worth seeking out over the greens? What is the difference?

By the way, Derby fans probably already know this, but the Premiums are very inexpensive and barely are priced more than the Extra line. Talk about cannibalizing your own product lines with bad pricing practices...

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Are the blue Derby extras worth seeking out over the greens? What is the difference?

I believe it's just 10 pack (blue) and 5 pack (green), just like Feather's black and yellow packs.

 

[Lil Cooties]

I believe it's just 10 pack (blue) and 5 pack (green), just like Feather's black and yellow packs.

That is true. At one point in time, a benefit of getting the blue pack is that they only introduced them after they improved the blades (in 2016? 2017? I forget), so it guaranteed them to be the newer production blades. I guess it's less of a gamble buying the green now that the retooling was a few years ago now, and I don't know how much of an improvement the new blades are over the old. I've also noticed they've started selling Extras in 100 packs without the plastic tucks recently, so those are definitely the new blades.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

After spending the first two weeks of this year, alternating daily between the Professional and the Extra, I can't tell any difference between them.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

Currently, this blade is in my top 20, but toward the bottom of that list.

 

[Salty_Shaver]

I am very happy with "Derby Extra" ATM. However, I know there is also Derby Professional, and now hearing of Derby Premium. Is there a "ranking" any of you would assign in terms of sharpness and so on for these Derby blades?

ALSO, it seems that Derby is NOT most people's first choice. In everything I read online as well as YouTube videos (c'mon we're all glued to those wonderful unboxing/tryout shavers/blades!), Derby seems to be near the bottom of the "very good list" whereas Feather, Nacet and others "rank" much higher. I personally think it depends on the razor + blade combo.

ALSO ALSO, I think I read that Derby Extra blades come from Turkey (or China?), but Derby Premium are made in Sweden. Sounds like they are mfred all over the place!?

When I googled "derby premium compared to derby extra" the Premium comes up with 4.6 stars and the Extra with 4.4 stars.

Comments?

I know the Derby extra went into the recycling bin a rusty straight edge with nicks in the blade shaves better than derby extra. And is it pronounced Dar-bee or Der-bee? If it pronounced Dar-bee how do you get Dar from Der?

 

[Umma2gumma]

I bought a 100 blade pack of Derby Premiums a while back. Still have a bunch.

To me, it’s a very decent blade but just a tad duller than Astra SP. Still, I would not hesitate to use them if I don’t like the new India made Astras.

Another blade that seems to have very similar properties is Parker Premium. A sample pack was included with my Variant and I used a few over the years.